Collaboration of The Naples International Film Festival with The Naples Philharmonic Center

The Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) proudly announces its collaboration with The Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts for its second annual film festival.

Stemming from the success of its inaugural event where 1100 ticket were sold at the opening night showing of the academy award winning film The Cove, NIFF will once again have its opening gala and closing ceremonies at The Phil.

“The Naples International Film Festival is a right idea and we are grateful to have it in our hall,” said Chairman and CEO Myra Janco Daniels. She added, ”Last year’s award winning film, The Cove, was very exciting and we look forward to another wonderful experience.”

Executive Director, Rowan Samuel, said, “The festival is excited to collaborate with the Philharmonic Center for the Arts again this year. The Phil is a world class facility with a highly skilled and competent team; working with them has been a great experience. He added, “last year were a tremendous success for us and we look forward to a repeat performance in 2010.”

The Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts is a Naples Institution when it comes to arts organizations, offering opera, Broadway musicals, classical music, dance, pop, bluegrass and film. It brings speakers ranging from local authors to heads of state. Its art museum is unrivaled in Southwest Florida.

During the Film Festival, scheduled for November 4-7, 2010, the NIFF targets and provides the theatre-going public a reasonable ticket price and amazing films to view and review.

Come join the NIFF team and be part of the excitement as a member, a donor and party-goer by going to the website at www.naplesfilmfest.com.

The mission of the NIFF is to nurture and support a diverse, artistic and cultural experience in Collier County through the operation of a creative, fun, and cutting edge boutique film festival.

Established by a group of visionary individuals wishing to invoke excitement and involvement in the arts for those who reside in, and visit the Naples, Florida area (just south of Ft. Myers).

NIFF showcases some of the finest and most creative cinematic works in the world, while at the same time supporting, organizing and providing an outlet for local filmmakers and film lovers in Southwest Florida.

The festival will use this combination of nationally recognized and home-grown talent to present the best in independent films at Naples’ finest venues while retaining a friendly, fun, and unique movie-going experience.

Media Contact: Nancy Farris Dagher, 239.641.9070
Wind and Water Consultants, PR/Marketing
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
NIFF Contacts:
Rowan Samuel, Executive Director, 267.251.9182, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tim Rowe, COO, 239.877.2819, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.naplesfilmfest.com

The Naples International Film Festival Announces Comcast as a Sponsor

The Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) proudly announces Comcast as a media sponsor for its second annual film festival. Last year, Comcast was very supportive of the inaugural festival and was one of the first in line to re-establish the sponsorship agreement for 2010.

“Comcast supports the mission of the of the Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) to nurture and support a diverse, artistic and cultural experience in Collier County. This exciting film festival showcases national, international and local Southwest Florida film makers,” states Barbara Hagen, market vice president/general manager for Sarasota/Ft. Myers. “Last year, the
NIFF inaugural event showed great depth of talent and entertainment reaching diverse audiences. Comcast is proud to be a sponsor for the 2010 NIFF.”

Executive Director, Rowan Samuel, said, “The festival is excited to sign a sponsorship agreement with Comcast, again, in 2010. Comcast will be providing spots on cable TV so that NIFF can run its commercials and keep the public informed of NIFF events leading up to and during the Naples International Film Festival.”

During the Film Festival, scheduled for November 4-7, 2010, the NIFF targets and provides the theatre-going public a reasonable ticket price and amazing films to view and review. Come join the NIFF team and be part of the excitement as a member, a donor and party-goer by going to the website at www.naplesfilmfest.com.

The mission of the NIFF is to nurture and support a diverse, artistic and cultural experience in Collier County through the operation of a creative, fun, and cutting edge boutique film festival.

Established by a group of visionary individuals wishing to invoke excitement and involvement in the arts for those who reside in, and visit the Naples, Florida area, NIFF showcases some of the finest and most creative cinematic works in the world, while at the same time supporting, organizing and providing an outlet for local filmmakers and film lovers in Southwest Florida.

NIFF will use this combination of nationally recognized and home-grown talent to present the best in independent films at Naples’ finest venues while retaining a friendly, fun, and unique movie-going experience.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is the nation's leading provider of entertainment, information and communication products and services.

With 23.5 million cable customers, 16.3 million high-speed Internet customers, and 7.9 million Comcast Digital Voice customers, Comcast is principally involved in the development, management and operation of cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.

Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment Television, Style Network, Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One, 11 regional sports networks operated by Comcast Sports Group and Comcast Interactive Media, which develops and operates Comcast's Internet businesses, including Comcast.net (www.comcast.net).

Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast-Spectacor, which owns two professional sports teams, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey team, and a large, multipurpose arena in Philadelphia, the Wachovia Center, and manages other facilities for sporting events, concerts and other events.

In the Sarasota/Fort Myers market, Comcast employs 1,300 people serving approximately 600
thousand customers with digital video, high-speed Internet and digital telephone services.

Media Contact: Nancy Farris Dagher, 239.641.9070
Wind and Water Consultants, PR/Marketing
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
NIFF Contacts: Rowan Samuel, Executive Director, 267.251.9182, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tim Rowe, COO, 239.877.2819, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.naplesfilmfest.com

Naples International Film Festival announces 501(c)(3)

The Naples International Film Festival (NIFF) is proud to announce its application to the IRS for tax exempt status was approved. As a 501(c)(3), NIFF is able to receive tax deductible contributions, bequests, transfers, devises, and gifts.

“We are extremely excited about our official non-profit status, said, Rowan Samuel, Executive Director, Naples International Film Festival.” Samuel added, “This will be the impetus for potential sponsors, donors and new members to contribute to NIFF’s success as an event and its positive economic impact for our community.”

During the Film Festival, scheduled for November 4-7, 2010, the NIFF targets and provides the theatre-going public a reasonable ticket price and amazing independent films to view and review.

Come join the NIFF team and be part of the excitement as a member, a donor and party-goer by going to the website at www.naplesfilmfest.com.

The mission of the NIFF is to nurture and support a diverse, artistic and cultural experience in Collier County through the operation of a creative, fun, and cutting edge boutique film festival.

Established by a group of visionary individuals wishing to invoke excitement and involvement in the arts for those who reside in, and visit the Naples, Florida area, NIFF showcases some of the finest and most creative cinematic works in the world, while at the same time supporting, organizing and providing an outlet for local filmmakers and film lovers in Southwest Florida.

NIFF will use this combination of nationally recognized and home-grown talent to present the best in independent films at Naples’ finest venues while retaining a friendly, fun, and unique movie-going experience.

Media Contact: Nancy Farris Dagher, 239.641.9070
Wind and Water Consultants, PR/Marketing
email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
NIFF Contacts:
Rowan Samuel, Executive Director, 267.251.9182, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Tim Rowe, COO, 239.877.2819, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.naplesfilmfest.com

Life in Naples (Pages 8-9)

State of the City (By Mayor Bill Barnett)

Life in Naples certainly is exciting. Besides the wonderful activities of living by the beach, great restaurants and a myriad of social activities, we now have our very own International Film Festival. If you weren’t in town in early November or weren’t able to attend, or for that matter didn’t evenknow what it was, you missed a surprisingly successful first year event. Normally I wouldn’t devote an entire article to one topic, but I am so enthusiastic about this year’s festival that you need to mark your calendars now, because it will be a fun for all event.

For those of you who don’t know what a film festival is, it is an organized, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. The films may be of recent date, and depending upon the focus of the individual festival, can include international releases as well as domestic films. Film festivals are typically annual events; Marco Island had a successful festival that ran for eight years. The world’s first major film festival was held in Venice in 1938; the other major film festivals of the world (Berlin, Edinburgh, Cannes, Moscow, and Karlovy Vary) date back to the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s.

Today, there are thousands of film festivals around the world, ranging from high profile festivals such as Cannes, the Sundance Film Festival (founded by Robert Redford) and the tribeca Film Festival (Robert DeNiro). Last year’s festival was a four day event that kicked off at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts and had showings at the Silverspot Luxury Cinema, the von Liebig Art Center and the Norris Center. The festival was very successful for a first time affair, with over 40 films featured and over 5,000 tickets sold. The event kicked off with a black tie gala (replete with a red carpet) at the Naples Philharmonic Center for the Arts featuring a Sundance Winner and recent Oscar winner, “The Cove” (www.thecovemovie.com), a film about the killing of dolphins in a cove in Japan, the subsequent cover up and the effects of pollution on the world’s oceans. Over 1,100 people attended the gala and the film received a standing ovation. “The Cove” just won an Academy Award for Best Documentary.

What started out over last summer as a grassroots effort viewing independent films at a local gallery in tin City caught fire with the help of local supporters and sponsors in the community, including the Naples Daily News, Comcast, the Mercato (and their retailers), and many other partners (over 60 sponsors participated). The Children’s Museum of Naples (CMON) - the sponsor for the children’s portion of the festival – was intrigued by the concept and supported what became “The Field of Dreams”; a three day line-up of entertainment activities at the grassy area across from the Silverspot, AZN and the Pub. With the witty Jason Martinez as the Field of Dreams MC, live bands and entertainment kicked off the festivities starting on Friday night through Sunday evening.

The lineup for the “Field of Dreams” also featured the Children’s Chorus of SWFL, KidzAct (Naples Players), Gigi’s children’s fashion show, the 3 Penny Opera musical from Seacrest school and local singer tori Osceola. Live bands included: Life Like the
Movies, the Jacob Jeffries Band, the Sheffield Crew, the Swing Guitars, Dost Thou Love Me, Little Eddie& the Fat Fingers,
Femme2Fatale (two electric violinists from Czech Republic), Casey Weston, Phoenix Falling and Wonderful Johnson.
Other local Florida talent also participated in the event. Laurence Gartel, renowned around the world as the “Father of
the Digital Art Movement,” provided the graphics for the NIFF poster and was on hand for a poster unveiling and art showings
at the von Liebig Art Center. Being no stranger to art festivals, Gartel was extremely supportive and has made lasting relationships with many Naples’ residents as a direct result of the festival. Robert Hayman, one of Naples’ most exciting and talented visual artists (and producer of the successful “Moon Over Hibiscus” art event at the Hibiscus center on 41), directed and produced the first NIFF commercial, which aired on local broadcast stations and prior to all the film showings. Not to be outdone, Cruise Naples and the Naples Princess provided cruises during the festival with one-onone
opportunities to meet film makers and festival staff.

Needless to say, putting on a film festival is hard work. Without the dedication of the volunteer staff and leadership, the
festival may not have been such a success. I had the opportunity to meet recently with Rowan Samuel and Tim Rowe who are
leading the festival this year. I was struck by their passion for Naples as well as their instincts in keeping the festival accessible,
fun and genuine. I became excited because I see the potential upside for the Naples business community and residents, similar
to the growth of the Naples Winter Wine Festival, another shining star in Naples.

There are lots of ways you can help make this festival an annual event that adds to the cultural fabric of Naples. For
2010, the film festival needs help with talented volunteers – especially in the fundraising, sponsorship, marketing and
graphic design arenas, plus interns and film screeners to help preview the film submissions. If you would like to support the
festival and think your business may be a good fit, email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or visit them on the web at www.
naplesfilmfest.com to sign up as a volunteer.

NIFF 2010 is slated for November 4-7, and this year there will be even more events in the city of Naples then there were
last year. As I write this article Rowan and tim are working with restaurants in the city to do something very special that all can
enjoy as well as planning an event at Cambier Park if we can make it work.

So mark your calendars, and for those of you who will be heading for your summer residences, safe travels, and I look
forward to seeing you next Fall when you return to Naples.

Click here to visit "Life in Naples" website.

Best of The Gulfshore 2010

Best Arts Experience

The Philharmonic Center for the Arts calls itself “your cultural destination in Naples,” and with a performing arts hall that hosts national touring productions as well as its own orchestra, a museum of art and a plethora of arts classes for all ages—plus a new partnership with the Sarasota Opera and a new speaker series—the Phil is definitely living up to that expectation.

Finalists: The Alliance for the Arts (Lee County), Naples International Film Festival

Best Festival

Nothing compares to the Naples Winter Wine Festival, an exclusive event that has garnered international renown for bringing the best vintners and chefs together to share their creations during a weekend of culinary delights and astronomical auction lots—the festival has raised more than $82 million in 10 years—to benefit underprivileged and at-risk children in Collier County.

Finalists: Edison Festival of Light (Fort Myers), Naples International Film Festival

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

Florida Weekly's Best of 2010

BEST NEW FESTIVAL >> The Naples International Film Festival

With a premiere that brought the Sundance award-winner “The Cove” to Naples before its Academy Award win for Best Documentary, the Naples International Film Festival set itself up as a tough act to follow. Three days full of great independent films on screens throughout the community, plus a kids’ event with the New York Children’s Film Festival. Organizers are busy screening contenders for this year’s offerings, which film aficionados will flock to see on silver screens around town Nov. 4-7. Hello, Oscar? It’s Naples calling.

Click here to read the article in its entirety.

"Sex and the City” fans have a Naples night out with Mr. Big (Naples Daily News)

By ELIZABETH KELLAR, Naples Daily News

Originally published 10:31 a.m., May 28, 2010
Updated 10:42 a.m., May 28, 2010

NAPLES — For “Sex and the City” fans, a cardboard cutout pretend Mr. Big is better than no Big at all.

On Thursday, the day “Sex and the City 2” premiered, a slightly stiff – but definitely well-loved – Mr. Big joined 26 of his female admirers out on the town in Naples. Organized by Neapolitans Brenda Melton and Rita Scott as a “fun-raiser” for the Naples International Film Festival, the night combined Cosmos and conversation with artistic inspiration. Before the event, each woman decorated a martini glass.

Melton also solicited signed martini glasses from a host of celebrities, including those associated with the HBO cable series “Sex and the City” and its two subsequent films, such as writer Candace Bushnell and Emmy award-winning costumer designer Patricia Field.

Naples artist Gina Fischer then decorated the autographed glasses. She gave a delicate New York City skyline to the glass on which Bushnell advised “Drink Cosmos.” And on the signed glass of Gilles Marini – the French actor who wasn’t afraid to bare it all in an outdoor shower during the first “Sex and the City” movie – Fischer painted what she delicately called “an abstract scene.”

But there was nothing abstract about the “Sex and the City” revelers.

In high, high heels and short, short skirts, they began their event with a limo ride and lots of talk about sex. The movie, that is. Camera in hand, Jan Flanagan – a self-professed “Samantha” – asked her friends to pose and “say ‘Sex and the City.’”

Derice Seslar asked if it would be fine to just say “sex.”

Seslar didn’t watch the HBO series “Sex and the City” faithfully, but considers herself a fan of the show. When she heard what Melton was planning, she thought it would be a great girls’ night out.

“I always have a lot of fun with my girl friends,” Seslar said.

“We’re not going to say how much fun,” Flanagan added.

Some of the women who attended the evening live in Naples seasonally and flew in to attend, traveling from the Midwest or East Coast. Others, such as Roiann Ridley and Paula Hendrick, don’t live in Naples at all but were invited to the event by a friend who lives locally.

“We wouldn’t have missed it,” said Hendrick, who lives in Bowling Green, Ky. “It was an honor to be invited.”

After arriving at the North Naples’ Silverspot Cinema, all the women gathered for a group photo with Mr. Big, the longtime love of “Sex and the City’s” main character, Carrie. Melton arranged to have the beloved Big created for the event. Two years ago, when the first film was released, Melton hosted a similar but smaller event, also starring a cardboard Big and with martini glasses decorated by the attendees.

The success of that event, plus the suggestion of a friend, encouraged her to revisit her idea for the “Sex” sequel. But this time, she decided to expand her efforts by approaching celebrities and by asking more women to decorate martini glasses. All the celebrity-signed glasses will be donated to the film festival for fundraising.

In addition to “Sex and the City” celebs, Melton received signed glasses from sports notables such as golfer Paula Creamer, and high-profile socialites such as Melania Trump. Scott, a part-time Kentucky resident, reached out to the horse racing community and received what could be considered a trifecta of martini memorabilia: three glasses signed by the jockeys who raced Triple Crown winners Secretariat, Affirmed and Seattle Slew.

Shoe designer extraordinaire Manolo Blahnik has agreed to sign a glass, too, as have other famous names, including John Travolta, Rachael Ray and Jeff Bridges. Those glasses are expected to arrive prior to this fall’s film festival, Melton said.

After the film, the women retired to a nearby restaurant and lounge for cocktails and to admire the glasses decorated by their fellow “Sex” fans. There, a lush chocolate sculpture by Norman Love — complete with edible high heels — set the tone for what was to come, close to where an assembly of embellished glasses sat, ready for judging.

The three attendee-decorated glasses that proved most popular Thursday night will also be donated to the film festival.

Attendee Kate Groseclose had the difficult job of decorating a glass for a show she never watched. She studied the first “Sex” movie and used it as her guide. The result was a martini glass filled with a tiny Louis Vuitton handbag, a shoe and a roll of film. Whether it was selected for film festival fame or not, Groseclose was pleased with her attempts.

“I just enjoyed the process,” she said. “If I don’t win, I will enjoy having it in my home.”

Melton said she was “overwhelmed” by the response to the event.

"This is about women supporting women,” she said.

Which, as Naples resident Mary Schucart noted, was the foundation of “Sex and the City.” Schucart was a committed fan of the show, although less of the movies.

“I love the friendships that they had and the love affairs that they had,” she said. “It just represented four women that stood by each other.”

Whether you consider yourself a Carrie, Miranda, Samantha or Charlotte, there’s really some of each women in every woman, Schucart believes.

“They represent a whole combination of all of us,” she said.

Direct link to Naples Daily News' story:  http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2010/may/28/sex-and-city-fans-have-naples-night-out-mr-big/